Hey guys just a note to you all Thanks a million for the exciting ventures this software has taken me. I would not have been able to do it alone.

Just wanted to ask the inevitable question about the cut list. I know it has been an issue for a while. I was wondering what you guys have up your sleeve as far as an improvement and / or fix for this?

I understand getting the cutlist correct and the programmers are working on that, but in the future before we can change the cutlist, I would like some ideas from members in deciding what is the best format and what options do members want in their cutlist. Board feet will be calculated in the next build or two.

In addition to the items Dan has listed is it possible for the \"export to excel\" feature of the cut list to have some options on what and/or how things are exported - ie: simply the job/cabinet name vs entire file location, numbers formated as numbers instead of text?

Also you need to be aware that different information is passed to the report depending on whether the cabinet is located in the batch cabinets vs. the layout editor. For example if the cabinet is located in the batch cabinets the report does not contain the material, width, length or thickness in the board stock summary (although it does have a total linear inches - I don't know if the total it correct or not)

I'm sorry I don't have time to be more specific or thorough at the moment as I'm pushing several deadlines today and tommorrow. However I will try to find time to really work through the report and find anything else I can as soon as possible. This report - particularly the exporting of it to excel is very important to me....

I know I am probably in the minority here as I am a one man shop and do not order truckloads of lumber from my suppliers. I go to the lumberyard and pick out my boards for each project.
So for me the board feet calculation is not really much benefit (and is simple to calculate anyway). What would actually be really cool would be to create a nesting diagram from user input of qty, width and length of boards in inventory (or in my case not in inventory but I can play with different numbers to look for optimum board sizes before I go to the lumberyard)
For example, on a given project say I need 20 pcs of 2-1/2 x 30, 25 pcs of 1-1/2 x 18, 16 pcs of 1-1/2 x 13, 8 pcs of 4 x 72. What I do now is create the boards in my CAD program and then create what I think I will probably find at the lumberyard, like 8 x 120 boards, and start making my own nesting diagrams. I usually don't find the optimum widths and lengths so I recalculate on the fly at the yard and when I get back I do my nesting diagram again with the actual boards I have. It would be nice to plug this information into eCabs and let it do the work. Someone else brought up the subject of inventory a while back and I like that idea. Instead of having the actual width of the finished board in the board stock database you would have the width of \"inventory\" boards and eCabs would calculate how to cut the finished boards out of the \"inventory\" boards with the same cut line and kerf options as sheet stock. If you have 6 inch wide boards in the database and get to the lumberyard and all they have is 7 inch boards they may not optimize any different than the 6 inch boards so you have to buy more board feet and have more waste. That is why I think the board feet calculation is good for estimating but is not useful for me for ordering lumber (and again it is easy to calculate anyway).
Sorry for the ramble, this turned into a train of thought thing and I went with it. Now my wife is standing here waiting for me to get the xmas decorations up in the attic so I may have to fill in the blanks later.

I just had another thought while (or whilst for those down under) putting away the xmas decorations. I believe, though I am not sure, that the Thermwood router keeps track of the rolling nest information so leftover sheet stock is kept track of and can be used in other jobs. That info could be incorporated into the inventory database as well so after you have performed a nesting operation you have the option of placing the leftover pieces (green pieces in the nest) into the inventory. Then when you perform another nesting operation with the same material and leftovers can be used you get a prompt asking if you would like to use these pieces from inventory. The same would be true for board stock.
With this inventory database board foot pricing becomes very useful so I change my mind and I guess it would make sense to incorporate it. Not that I was against it, it just didn't really give me much in the current system. It would probably be okay to update the cost of everything in inventory when you make a cost change to that stock as you want to charge based on what you are currently paying for the stock, not what you paid for it since prices usually don't go down. However, if you wanted to use the inventory data for bookkeeping or tax purposes you may want to keep the inventory data as is.

So I guess the bottom line is that it would be nice to:
1. Have a function for random width and length board stock where you enter common widths and lengths you typically get. In other words we buy 6in x 120in boards and cut them to multiple widths and lengths just like sheet stock.
2. Have an inventory for actual board stock on hand which is always random width and sometimes random length, unlike sheet stock.
3. Have costing for board stock entered in price per board foot.
4. Have an inventory function for sheet stock as well.
5. Have the option for leftover board and sheet stock to be added to the inventory.
6. Have a nesting operation for board stock.

I don't know if you guys are familiar with cutlist plus or not.
But in their software it has more options for optimizing. Such as sort by crosscut or rips or say I wanted to do doors and I want the grain to match it could do that,or by distribution(keeping part together that go together).

Another great option or ability would be like a drag and drop kind of system, Just drop your parts on the sheet more or less where you want them and have the computer arrange it for saw kerf and such.
It might work really good for guys with lots of offcuts of sheetgoods.

And now with all that has been said; I really think all the ideas are exceptional. Although may not be practical or possible for random width stock. Only trying to think as a programmer and not a cabinet man for a moment. I think writing a code to facilitate the use of a variable (W) for width and (L) for length ie. can provide for some form of complications and potential catastrophe's in the builds. Although this would be nice, and very useful i think it will be more than just a simple add-on.

Having a data base saved for the fall off would be useful as well. For those who can handle the storage of said material. Although bins are an option I have had so much fall off in my past experience that even it can become overwhelming. but with the labels and a way to keep track of this may solve this.

I did mention in an earlier post the idea of exporting or exchanging information between other software ie. Quick Books. My office manager (not me)uses Quick books and would love to be able to receive from me an export of some sort, itemizing the materials we use in the job. Ie. 50 Bft of hard maple...33 sheets of birch ply..

The greatest thing in my opinion about this forum and the Therm wood team is that you listen to the input from the users.

Hey guys,
Getting to this party a little late, but I wanted to get my two cents in on this. The board stock thing is certainly a problem that needs to be solved and there are some very good suggestions in this thread, but unless I missed it, one of my big aggravations is having to go back and recover all the data regarding display parts and adding those sheet and stock costs to my job bid manually.

When we add a display board/sheet to the cabinet or assembly we have to define what we are using in terms of thickness, width, length, and type. Why can't this info be rolled up in our board/sheet stock costs? Those of us who do a lot of custom work are burdened with this little extra work that is easily forgotten only to have it represent lost revenue because it wasn't included in our pricing.

An example: I am doing fireplace facing with a heavy mantel shelf that will be 4\" thick. The board stock price alone (cherry) will be about $230.00. It (along with all the other display parts) is not included in the job cost rollup
That's a big hit to leave out of a job by accident.
Can we get this included?
regards,